Tutorial:Brainstorming Concepts
Brainstorming 'is one of the most important parts about character and plot creation. Its the climax of the creative equilibrium that is the mind of a writer. Here, I will guide you in your creative adventures, to ensure you can create fantastic new ideas from your mind. 'Thinking Big ' The main goal of brainstorming is, of course, to create new ideas. However, not many people know how to effectively brainstorm characters and plots. So where do we start? With the lovable thought bubble of course! Mine is called Jimmy. Brainstorming will almost always start with an idea. This idea can be the idea that changes everything, or something completely irrelevant. Ideas are the golden eggs of the mind, waiting to be hatched. So where do we get ideas from? We as humans like to take inspiration from other sources. To make that seem less of a jerk move, monkey see, monkey do. I personally take inspiration from games I've played, movies I've seen, and even other writers. Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time, and can inspire all sorts of ideas. ''Go ahead, think for a bit. I'll wait. After all, I'm just a line of text that you're probably reading with an accent. '''Brainstorming Strategies If we could all write a novel just by laying down and thinking, the literature business would be overinflated! Sometimes it takes a little bit of oomph ''to get a good idea going. There are many strategies you can use to get the creative juices flowing. #'Spitballing.' This one is the most common form of group brainstorming. Got a friend? Go talk to him, throw some ideas at the rhetorical wall, and see what sticks. #'Freewriting.' This form of brainstorming is simple, just start writing down your ideas, and don't pick up your pen/pencil/quill/keyboard. Please don't pick up your keyboard, it makes you look aggressive! #'Graphing.' Try forming your ideas into diagrams, see whats good, and make changes as you need. 'Processing the Idea' So now that you've ground your gears, you might have your idea, the golden egg that flew out of the basket. It might be a character, a new species, maybe even a plot idea. So with that golden idea, the best idea that ever was, we start the fun part. Processing your idea. This is where you take that idea and expand upon it, forming new ideas to fit in with it, and polishing out any unnecesary details. As an example, I will use a simple outline for when I was brainstorming one of my own characters, Olivia. *''Olivia **''Patricia's little sister.'' **''Avian Angel (Raven? Corvus)'' **''Main hue: Purple'' **''Main emotion: Creativity '' **''Physical Traits'' ***''Tall'' ***''Black hair. (Raven black/blue)'' ***''Modestly endowed '' ***''Missing hand, augmented.'' ****''Idea later cancelled.'' ***''Freckled'' ***''Heterochromia? '' ****''Hazel and violet.'' ***''Goggles.'' **''Personality traits'' ***''Black sheep.'' ****''Idea later cancelled.'' ***''Nutty, creative type.'' ***''Tomboy.'' ***''Likes bugs, specifically spiders.'' ***''Outgoing, easy to talk to.'' ***''Hint of awkward?'' Now, you might be internally screaming that this outline isn't simple, but its a form of a processed thought. As you likely noticed, some ideas were cancelled, like Olivia missing a hand. Some ideas will be scratched when you start polishing your characters, so do not fear omitting something you don't like. In general, an outline will start more like this: *''Character Name'' **''Plotted points. Species? Family? Significance.'' **''More points'' **''Physical Traits '' ***''Trait list'' **''Personality Traits'' ***''Trait list'' 'With a base outline like that, you're on the road to success. When you process your thought, you are always revising: adding, subtracting, changing, polishing. Keep in mind that you might not want to fully develop a character before introducing them. Sometimes adding a base for a character is better, and letting that characters personality develop through interaction in RP. '''Making it Happen. Now that you have your polished idea for a character, its time to put it into action! The easiest way for a newcomer to introduce a character is to join in on a social thread. A social thread will often contain much easier events to interact with, often like a party of get-together. As you gain experience, you will learn when it's best to introduce a character, and in what manner. 'What About Plots?' Now hold on there, Mr. Legendary Jr! A plot is very important to RP, its what keeps it alive and fresh. Creating a good plot is a much harder obstacle to surmount than a character, and will be elaborated upon further in another tutorial. And now for the topic everyone LOVES! 'Originality' Now before you scream internally (or maybe externally, if you're into that...) at your monitor, I do know what I said earlier about inspiration. : "So where do we get ideas from? We as humans like to take inspiration from other sources. To make that seem less of a jerk move, monkey see, monkey do." -Narrarator, earlier this page. While complete originality is not the most important part of creating a character, it is the long term goal you should strive for. It takes a great mind to create something without any reference, so using a slight cliche in your concept is not the end of the world. However, the O in OC does stand for original, so there's no excuse not to try! When coming up with a concept, look at what other writers have done. If your concept is parrallel to another RPer's creation, ponder around and see what you can do different. Try to avoid running the most stereotypical roles, such as "the AI" or the "garden-variety bounty hunter", as these are common first characters. It is alright to think outside the box, but if you feel worried that your concept mightr be too far-fetched, feel free to ask around for opinions. Listen to''' constructive cristicism', and give it to others. ''Constructive criticism is a powerful force, but just being critical makes you sound like a jerk. Nobody wants to be a jerk! 'Copyrighted Material ' One last point of originality is to avoid copyrighted material, especially art. Using other's art is not allowed on the wiki, unless you have viable proof that its creator allowed you to use it. The fair use act does not count here, as it can still land the wiki in trouble if used incorrectly. Category:Tutorials